The present invention relates generally to systems and methods for processing data representing sigmoid or growth curves, and more particularly to systems and methods for determining characteristic cycle threshold (Ct) or elbow values in real-time PCR amplification curves.
The Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) is an in vitro method for enzymatically synthesizing or amplifying defined nucleic acid sequences. The reaction typically uses two oligonucleotide primers that hybridize to opposite strands and flank a template or target DNA sequence that is to be amplified. Elongation of the primers is catalyzed by a heat-stable DNA polymerase. A repetitive series of cycles involving template denaturation, primer annealing, and extension of the annealed primers by the polymerase results in an exponential accumulation of a specific DNA fragment. Fluorescent probes or markers are typically used in real-time PCR, or kinetic PCR, to facilitate detection and quantification of the amplification process.
A typical kinetic PCR curve as shown in FIG. 1, where fluorescence intensity values are plotted vs. cycle number for a typical PCR process. In this case, the formation of PCR products is monitored in each cycle of the PCR process. The amplification is usually measured in thermocyclers which include components and devices for measuring fluorescence signals during the amplification reaction. An example of such a thermocycler is the Roche Diagnostics LightCycler (Cat. No. 20110468). The amplification products are, for example, detected by means of quenched fluorescently labeled hybridization probes which only emit fluorescence signals after they are bound to a target nucleic acid sequence and subsequently degraded by the 5′ to 3′ nuclease activity of a DNA polymerase. Other examples include fluorescent signals generated during nucleic acid amplification where fluorescent dyes bind to double-stranded DNA and experience an increase in their fluorescence quantum yield.
For a typical kinetic PCR growth curve, identifying a transition point referred to commonly as the elbow value or cycle threshold (Ct) value is extremely useful for understanding characteristics of the PCR amplification process. The Ct value may be used as a measure of efficiency of the PCR process. For example, a defined signal threshold is determined for all reactions to be analyzed. Then the number of cycles (Ct) required to reach this signal threshold is determined for the target nucleic acid as well as for reference nucleic acids such as a standard or housekeeping gene. The absolute or relative copy numbers of the target molecule can be determined on the basis of the Ct values obtained for the target nucleic acid and the reference nucleic acid (Gibson et al., Genome Research 6:995-1001; Bieche et al., Cancer Research 59:2759-2765, 1999; WO 97/46707; WO 97/46712; WO 97/46714). The elbow value 20 in FIG. 1 would be in the region of cycle number 30.
A more precise elbow value in a kinetic PCR curve can be determined using several existing methods. For example, various methods determine the actual value of the elbow (Ct) as the value where the fluorescence reaches a predetermined signal level called the AFL (arbitrary fluorescence value). Other methods use the cycle number where the second derivative of fluorescence vs. cycle number reaches a maximum. All of these methods have drawbacks. For example, derivative methods are sensitive to outlier (noisy) data, and the AFL approach is sensitive to changes in the average baseline fluorescent level in the pre-elbow PCR cycles. Furthermore, these algorithms typically have many parameters that are often difficult to optimize. This results in a trade-off between sensitivity and false positives that reduces the effectiveness of these algorithm approaches.
Therefore, it is desirable to provide new systems and methods for determining the elbow value in curves, such as sigmoid-type curves, and kinetic PCR curves in particular, that overcome these drawbacks and others.